Hakkı Uygur

Hakkı Uygur completed his BA at Imam Khomeini International University, his MA in the History of Islamic Culture and Civilization department, and his PhD in Persian Language and Literature in 2015 at Tehran University. He is currently the Vice-Director of the Center for Iranian Studies in Ankara.

Turkey should not expect other parties to understand and support responses to its own security threats. If Turkey enters into the field in Syria by using its hard power, this may change the game in its favor.

Whether the Trump administration continues its policies of dragging Iran into economic bankruptcy or whether the tension between the two countries turns into a military encounter, it will undoubtedly become of the most important points on the agenda concerning all of the Middle East region.

Iran needs to be very careful about the steps that it will pursue against the U.S. The assumption that Trump will never risk a war, which will endanger the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers or a huge chaos that will affect the global market, seems to be the main detriment of Iran’s counter strategies. However, it will not be an exaggeration to say that this is a great gamble.

The possibility that Tehran might give up hope of a political resolution due to reasons such as the crippling economy due to sanctions, increasing pressure from regional rivals and internal opposition provoking street protests, may cause U.S.-Iran tensions to rise to their highest level of the last 40 years, and this situation would have severe consequences for the entire region, including Turkey.

Iran’s red lines concerning intervention in Syria are the presence of the regime and the securing of the resistance line. As Turkey does not directly threaten these concerns, it is possible for Tehran to be more empathetic to Ankara's priorities in Syria.

Iran may face two major risks in the current phase: an extensive Israeli attack and second, the incrimination of Trump’s crackdown on the country. In consideration of such possibilities, it is apparent that Tehran is striving to develop and maintain sound relations with Moscow and Ankara.

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